A master storyteller and unrivaled visionary, Clive Barker has mixed the real and unreal with the horrible and wonderful in more than twenty years of fantastic fiction. The Inhuman Condition is a masterwork of surrealistic terror, recounting tragedy with pragmatism, inspiring panic more than dread and evoking equal parts revulsion and delight.
Dirk Pitt finds himself up against a wealthy Chinese businessman who is making a fortune smuggling Chinese immigrants around the world, building a huge shipping port which he intends to flood by diverting the Mississippi and who is searching for a lost treasure ship in the Great Lakes.
For decades our political leaders and opinion makers have touted higher incomes as the way to a better future. Economic growth means better lives for us all.But after many years of sustained economic growth and increased personal incomes we must confront an awful fact: we aren't any happier. This is the great contradiction of modern politics. Clive Hamilton argues that, far from being the answer to our problems, growth fetishism and the marketing society lie at the heart of our social ills. They have corrupted our social priorities and political structures, and have created a profound sense of alienation among young and old.Growth Fetish is the first serious attempt at a politics of change for rich countries dominated by sicknesses of affluence, where the real yearning is not for more money but for authentic identity, and where the future lies in creating a society that promotes the things that really do improve our well-being.
For decades our political leaders and opinion makers have touted higher incomes as the way to a better future. Economic growth means better lives for us all.But after many years of sustained economic growth and increased personal incomes we must confront an awful fact: we aren't any happier. This is the great contradiction of modern politics. Clive Hamilton argues that, far from being the answer to our problems, growth fetishism and the marketing society lie at the heart of our social ills. They have corrupted our social priorities and political structures, and have created a profound sense of alienation among young and old.Growth Fetish is the first serious attempt at a politics of change for rich countries dominated by sicknesses of affluence, where the real yearning is not for more money but for authentic identity, and where the future lies in creating a society that promotes the things that really do improve our well-being.
04.07.24: Fourteen years of Tory gross mismanagement of government, economy and society came to a crashing and well-deserved end. Keir Starmer's Labour government was elected with a landslide of seismic proportions. But with a huge Parliamentary majority delivered on a share of the vote that would ordinarily spell defeat, this was more about the Tories losing than Labour winning. The old assumptions have been torn up. Throw into the mix an increasingly five-party (six in Scotland) system where once it was two and the potential for electoral volatility if Labour ends up disappointing is obvious. The Starmer Symptom brings together leading political writers to navigate the complex terrain of this seismic shift in British politics. This unique collection analyses voter data, and looks at the break-up of the two-party system with the rise of a populist right in Reform UK and a new independent left. Will Keir Starmer's government be able to successfully combine the pragmatic and social democratic to produce radical change? And if not, who is waiting in the wings?
This book is about democracy and communication. The media and popular culture are often identified as bearing primary responsibility for the decline of active citizenship and the decay of democratic institutions. Media culture is charged with eroding the capacity of citizens to trust in public institutions and with encouraging widespread civic disengagement. In Culture and Democracy, Clive Barnett critically evaluates the conceptual underpinnings of such widespread judgements. In doing so he provides an innovative and theoretically informed exploration of the interface between culture, political economy, and public life. Through a triangulation of the ideas of Derrida, Foucault, and Habermas, he argues that deconstruction, poststructuralism, and critical theory converge around shared concerns for the possibilities of democratic public life in a globalising age. Drawing on cultural and media studies, human geography, political philosophy and social theory, and research on media policy and politics in the United States, Europe and South Africa, he demonstrates the indispensability of concepts of the public sphere, representation, and spatiality to the analysis of the politics of cultural democratisation. This book combines critical conceptualisation with policy analysis, and connects cultural studies to normative political theory. Clive Barnett demonstrates the importance of developing theoretical arguments in connection with case studies for understanding the contemporary interactions between media, culture and democracy.
This is an examination of restructuring in the context of the curriculum and teaching and learning. International case studies are provided from the USA, Hong Kong, Australia and the UK.
Managing Conflict at Work provides practical guidance on how to prevent, contain and resolve conflict in the workplace. It demonstrates how effective conflict management can have a powerful impact on the way organisations channel their energies; encouraging positive mindsets and building stronger and happier workforces. Putting the cost of rising conflict in context with recessionary times, it looks beyond individual cases to issues such as workforce motivation and corporate responsibility. The authors provide a wide range of practical techniques, tools and templates to support individuals who need to facilitate the resolution of employee disputes. Aimed not just at mediators and conflict practitioners, but at staff managers and anyone who needs to deal with people disputes; the book emphasises simple and practical ways for dealing with conflict situations - both when potential disputes are first emerging, and once a conflict has escalated into a formal complaint. Also including international case studies, extensive appendix of templates, tools and forms, including stakeholder analysis, mediation in-take forms and reflective questioning prompts, Managing Conflict at Work provides practical support to ensure that your company prevents disputes and stays within the law. The book is accompanied by an extensive range of ready-to-use templates and case studies and is supported by a dedicated website, providing information and downloads referred to in the book, as well as videos and podcasts.
Financial Management for Non-Financial Managers is an accessible, practical and easy to understand guide that will allow any manager to gain confidence in understanding financial matters, managing a budget and dealing with bankers, accountants and finance professionals. A source of invaluable expert advice on all the essential aspects of financial management within the context of running a business, it covers: business structures, accounting and financial statements, analysis and ratios, planning, budgeting, product and service costing, setting selling prices, investment appraisal, finance and working capital, taxation and international transactions. This book explains financial literacy in the context of management, showing how improved awareness of finances can lead to increased value creation and protection for your business. Aimed at the practicing business manager, Financial Management for Non-Financial Managers includes case studies, spreadsheets and worked examples to accompany key skills and practices explained in the book. Online supporting resources for this book online template spreadsheets for planning, budgeting and variance analysis.
A good business model should describe how an organization creates and delivers value, meaning that financial modelling is a vital tool for business strategy, allowing hypotheses and scenarios to be translated into numbers. It enables a company to experiment with different ideas and scenarios in a safe, low-risk environment, to consider what it is aiming to achieve, and to prioritize accordingly. Business and Financial Models provides an accessible introduction to these essential strategic practices, with guidance on using Microsoft Excel for projection and analysis. The book takes you through the process of building your model from the initial phase of formulating questions through modelling cash flow, budgets, investment appraisal and 'dashboard' tools for monitoring performance. Ideal for both small and large companies, Business and Financial Models also includes coverage of new visual thinking techniques, like Structured Visual Thinking, and how these can be incorporated into conventional business modelling. Online supporting resources for this book include downloadable figures from the book.
Over last thirty years, new technology, fashion, and social set-ups have spawned new cliches galore. Everything on the Internet is available at the 'click of a mouse', TV presenters ask the audience to 'give it up' when they want them to applaud, call centres tell us 'we value your call' even though 'all our operators are busy'. And if you're 'gobsmacked' by all this you may be told to 'get a life', 'chill out' or 'whatever'.It's Not Rocket Science sifts through all aspects of modern life to find the most prevalent, ubiquitous and downright irritating cliches of our age. This high-octane, caffeine-fuelled, dictionary of cliches highlights the freshly-hackneyed phrases we're being subjected to 24/7. So how good is that? And what's not to like?
Did you know that the world's tallest rollercoaster has a vertical drop that's the height of a 45-floor building? Or that the world's biggest helicopter has been used to transport a frozen woolly mammoth?This book contains stunning pictures and amazing record-busting facts about the biggest, fastest and most powerful machines in the world - plus many others! The Record Busters series is perfect for capturing the interest of both young general readers and older reluctant readers.
Packed with information for children aged 9-11 on different ski disciplines, indoor and outdoor ski resorts, plus the equipment they will need to stay safe and comfortable. Filled with plenty of action-packed photographs, it will guide them through their first skills and techniques on the piste and shows how to progress to the next level.
Amazing Applications and Perfect Programs explores operating systems, computer programs, sorting and storing files, databases, and the programs that allow users to have fun with words, pictures and sounds. The computers that are used in schools, homes and businesses around the world rely on computer programs. Learn about the amazing variety of these programs today and how they can be used from everything from the most complicated finances to simple word processing. Exercises teach key skills such as word processing, creating documents and using databases. Stretch Yourself features give practical activities for readers to try. These 'try at home' examples help reinforce learning and are not linked to specific software or operating systems. True Story features give real-world anecdotes from the world of information technology. Computer Hero features look at the forerunners of digital technology that have paved the way for scientists today.Other titles in the Get Ahead in Computing series: Awesome Algorithms & Creative Coding, Amazing Applications & Perfect Programs, and Computer Networks.
Awesome facts and stats about the greatest football fans in the world. Find out the lengths some fans will go to to support their team, from following them in home and away games to spending fortunes on club merchandise. Find out about club superstitions and traditions, such as who started the first Mexican wave. What mad mascots are there and how did they come about? Who are Super Rat, Berni, Goleo and Fuleco? Which country has the best club chants? Sing along to a few of them.Some 'fan'-tastic facts include:- Real Madrid sold 1.5million replica shirts in the 2013-2014 season.- German club, FC Magdeburg, fans all held up large arrows which they pointed at the goal to encourage their players to score more.- 2,300 FC Union fans, repainted their stadium to save their club money.Answer quiz questions such as:'Which English football club has a mascot called Gunnersaurus Rex?Which country's prime minister was such a big football fan that he declared a national holiday after their national team won a tournament?Which Italian club sold cans of air taken from inside its stadium?Whether you're an armchair fanatic or a player, you'll find everything you ever wanted to know about the planet's greatest fans right here!
Discover the greatest wonders of nature the world has to offer, from the Grand Canyon to Uluru and from the Serengeti Migration to the Aurora Borealis. Get up close to their unique features and marvel at their breathtaking dimensions. What threats and challenges to these special phenomena face, and what is being done to ensure their survival for future generations to enjoy? Perfect for readers 9 and up.
Discover the most amazing and unusual wonders the world has to offer, from Greece's Meteora Monasteries to India's Ajanta Caves and from Belize's Great Blue Hole to Mexico's Cave of Crystals. Get up close to their unique features and marvel at their breathtaking dimensions. What threats and challenges to these special phenomena face, and what is being done to ensure their survival for future generations to enjoy?
Back Pain and Spinal Manipulation: a practical guide presents a highly-illustrated, didactic guide to the diagnosis and manipulative treatment of back pain. Based on a diagnostic approach to back pain the text is extremely practical and includeshow-to-do-it-yourself tips based on the authors' many years of practical experience. The second edition of this popular text has been extensively revised and updated to include the developments that have taken place within the field in recent years. Newillustrations have been added, and the format has been redesigned to produce a text that makes the information more easily accessible. New for the second edition: * manipulation techniques for the thoracic spine * sacro-iliac disorders and treatment *muscle stretching techniques * muscle energy techniques Features includes: key check points, classification of techniques, charts on technique/directness/specificity and do's and don'ts, and position of the patient/position of the therapist. With an emphasis throughout on practical information that is easy to follow, the book is essential reading for all practitioners, physiotherapists, chiropractors and osteopaths involved in the diagnosis and treatment of back pain.
Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are devices that provide a fast, low-cost way for embedded system designers to customize products and deliver new versions with upgraded features, because they can handle very complicated functions, and be reconfigured an infinite number of times. In addition to introducing the various architectural features available in the latest generation of FPGAs, The Design Warrior’s Guide to FPGAs also covers different design tools and flows.This book covers information ranging from schematic-driven entry, through traditional HDL/RTL-based simulation and logic synthesis, all the way up to the current state-of-the-art in pure C/C++ design capture and synthesis technology. Also discussed are specialist areas such as mixed hardward/software and DSP-based design flows, along with innovative new devices such as field programmable node arrays (FPNAs). Clive "Max" Maxfield is a bestselling author and engineer with a large following in the electronic design automation (EDA)and embedded systems industry. In this comprehensive book, he covers all the issues of interest to designers working with, or contemplating a move to, FPGAs in their product designs. While other books cover fragments of FPGA technology or applications this is the first to focus exclusively and comprehensively on FPGA use for embedded systems.
Energy – its source, security, price, and the efficiency of its use, are increasingly important issues for a diverse range of people. Energy: Management, Supply and Conservation is a comprehensive text dealing with the theory and practice of the supply of energy, energy management and auditing, and the design of sustainable energy facilities. It considers the systems needed to create low-energy, sustainable buildings, including passive solar design, energy-efficient heating and air-conditioning, and combined heat and power. In addition the book includes substantial sections on renewable energy, transport energy, and energy economics. This new edition includes the latest in alternate-energy technology, for example wind turbines and solar panels as well as updating important energy values and statistics.The book’s readable style, along with its many figures, tables and worked examples make it an ideal text for courses on energy management, environmental engineering, architectural engineering and building services engineering. It will also be useful as a definitive handbook for professionals in the environmental, construction, utilities and facilities management sectors, as well as being of interest to those involved in sustainability economics and environmental policy making.